[time-nuts] woodpecker sounds

Attila Kinali attila at kinali.ch
Fri Apr 22 16:42:21 EDT 2016


On Fri, 22 Apr 2016 05:41:25 -0700
jimlux <jimlux at earthlink.net> wrote:

> although the analysis not by time-nuts, since their statistical analysis 
> of drumming rates is not of the kind with which *we* are familiar. This 
> is no surprise: over the past 3 years, I've been looking at literature 
> on heart rates, and out of hundreds of papers, I think only a few 
> mentioned the power spectrum in terms of an oscillator model of any 
> kind.  For many years, physiologists eschewed the use of mathematical 
> models.


I don't know what kind of papers you were looking at, but there is
quite a bit of literature on mathematical modeling of biological systems,
starting from heart beats to the blinking of fireflies. Of course, if
you want to have a mathematical model you need to look at papers/books
written by mathematically trained people. It is not like physiologists
eschew mathematical models, it's rather that they are not aware of
the tools it can provide. Heck, I'm currently struggling with similar
issues. Trying to find the right mathematical description is very
difficult, even if you are an engineer. I can only imagine how much
more people who barely had any training in math must struggle...

Anyways.. If you are looking at mathematical models of physiological
or biological systems, then a good place to start are the books and
papers written by Arthur Winfree. I have not fully read it yet, but
his book "The Geometry of Biological Time" contains a lot on that topic.
Also worth a look are his former students. Probably first of all
Steven Strogatz (for those who are looking at some nice and easy
reading for rainy evenings, I can recommend his book "Sync").
Charles Peskin is probably also a good name to start with.

Other than those, there is quite a bit of modeling going on.
I have not had the time to dive into this topic yet, but I have
seen papers on a wide variety of topics in that general area.
But as I said, most of the "good" stuff is written by mathematicians
and some more mathematically inclined bilogicists.


				Attila Kinali
-- 
Reading can seriously damage your ignorance.
		-- unknown


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